Beckham to return to LA Galaxy: report

David Beckham will be back with the LA Galaxy after AC Milan failed to meet a Friday deadline to make the Major League Soccer club an acceptable offer for the England midfielder, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In an article posted on its website Friday, Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Galaxy owners AEG, told the newspaper that the Italian club had not met the deadline set by Major League Soccer and that no late offer would be considered.

Beckham is on loan to AC Milan until March 8.

“He will be back here on March 9 and we don’t want to entertain any more conversations now,” Leiweke told the Times.

“It is a distraction to (Galaxy Coach) Bruce Arena, the team and the fans and we move on. That’s the last we’re going to talk about this.”

Reports in Europe on Friday had indicated that negotiations would go on through the weekend.

Leiweke said he wouldn’t be surprised if AC Milan came back with an offer over the weekend or next week, but said the Galaxy didn’t intend to negotiate further.

“They’ll come back. Sure they will … That’s not fair. We owe it to Bruce and we owe it to the rest of the team. We’re a month away from our season.”

Leiweke told the Times that AC Milan had “never been in the ballpark” in terms of offering what Beckham is worth.

The former England captain is gearing up for the big Italian derby against rivals Inter Milan this weekend.

The 33-year-old equaled Bobby Moore’s England record of 108 caps for an outfield player when he featured against Spain on Wednesday and a stay in Europe would no doubt help extend his international career.

“I would like to stay there, I?ve already said that,” Beckham said this week. “I?ve nothing against Galaxy, I?ve had two great years there and there are some great players and great people there. But I’m really enjoying my football at Milan,” he said.

But Leiweke told the Times that the Galaxy’s focus now would be to “get David excited about the team we’re building here and coming back.”

Beckham joined LA Galaxy amid great fanfare in 2007 on a five-year deal reportedly worth 250 million dollars (183 million euros). However, he does have a provision in his contract that would allow him to leave after the 2009 MLS season.